Niagara County has abundant and affordable real estate, an educated and affordable work force, low-cost power programs and competitive utility rates, easy access to capital, low tax rates, and other business advantages.

According to the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise 2012 Economic Guide, the average price per square foot for leasable industrial space in the Buffalo-Niagara Region is $4.31. It’s even lower in the City of Niagara Falls at $3.43 psf. These rates are significantly less than the average rates in all of the major cities in California and Florida as well as cities like Austin, Baltimore/Washington DC, Boston, Denver, Houston, Jacksonville, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle. In comparison, the average price per square foot of leasable industrial space in the New York metropolitan area is $6.61. In the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where the average price per square foot of leasable industrial space is $5.03, a 100,000 square foot facility would cost you $160,000 more per year than the same size facility in Niagara Falls.

The average salary paid to manufacturing workers in Niagara County ($50,751) is less than the average salaries paid in the metropolitan areas of Austin ($57,542), Detroit ($59,827), Minneapolis-St. Paul ($57,820), Seattle ($62,104), and many other MSAs. The low cost of living in the Buffalo-Niagara Region means that workers’ wages remain competitive, while the lower labor cost reduces the bottom line for your business.

There are a dozen major lending institutions in the region including international banking giants JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and HSBC.

Niagara County’s Empower Niagara program and the New York Power Authority’s low-cost power programs provide some of the cheapest electricity in the nation. Between these programs, companies of all sizes have an opportunity to access low-cost electricity.

New York State has the lowest corporate tax rate in the Northeastern U.S.

Niagara County also has a lower sales tax rate than almost every location in North America and Europe. The 8% sales tax rate is lower than the 13% combined GST/PST in Ontario, Canada; the 14.5 % combined GST/PST in Quebec; the 16% VAT in Mexico; the 19% VAT in Germany; the 19.6% VAT in France; and the 20% VAT in the United Kingdom. The VAT in many countries in the European Union exceeds 20%. Lower tax paid on goods and services in your company’s vendor supply chain means lower overall production costs so your product can be priced more competitively.

What they say

"This facility is going to be the single most efficient, environmentally friendly data center on the planet."David Dibble, Yahoo! Executive VP of Services for Engineering and Operations

"At KATZ Americas, we have a long history of hard working, dedicated employees at our Town of Wheatfield facility. "Michael DiMartino, Chief Financial Officer, KATZ Americas

"The other benefit of being just 10 minutes from the border is that it's easy to cross-train U.S. and Canadian staff. At only 60-70 minutes drive time from the GTA, it's an easy day trip."Michael Sapecky, General Manager, elecDirect.com LLC